Homesteading in a fantasy world

Next day's chores brought a surprise. I got my second deer. I killed it the same way as the first one and left it to hang so all the blood will drain out. One more of the deer traps was disturbed, same with two of the rabbit ones. This was the most activity I have noticed. I got back to the deer and started to bring it back.

While I was bringing it back, I looked for more activity in the forest. Finding it quite easily, lots of new animal tracks. I wonder if it’s a migration season for them or if there's another reason for so many animals to start moving. Moving and thinking, I realised how much weight of a deer I will just need to throw out when back at the farm.

That reminded me that most animals are butchered where they are caught and only useful parts are brought back. I might need to start doing that if I catch more or if I go hunting. Which I might have to do. I have miscalculated. I was so used to my older body and how much it needed to eat. That I didn’t account that I am still growing and quite young.

I will need a lot more calories to truly build out my body correctly. Dealing with the hide is always troublesome. Using the same way as before i prepare it for drying.

I chopped up all the meat into smaller pieces and put them into the smoker. I made the fire and watched it for some time, but I wanted to get on with my farming work. So, I loaded it up with wood and went to get the bull.

He was extremely delighted to see me and followed instructions excellently. I usually would have started by going to the outer fields so I could work towards the farm. But I decided to start close, so it would be easier to go and put more wood into the smoker when needed.

Even with all the distractions today, we were able to get done 1/3 of the fields and I got myself another level in basic farmer, basic animal handling and basic animal training.

I purposely made the meat into long thin strips so I could use them as jerky when I travel. It makes bringing them with me simple. Also, this way I can smoke them in one day and they will preserve for a long time. Not the best food, especially without salt or spices, but it will get the job done. Best way would be to use them in a stew.

This morning after I milk the cows, I decided to put together a butchering kit so I can practice on the spot butchering. It just took a backpack that I added some leather straps too. Side straps I could use for the axe and the knife. I also brought a sharpening stone.

From my current experience at home, I’m going to need that a lot. There was a reason why even when metals were used hunters still used stone knives, they were just so much sharper.

This choice turned out the correct one to do, because I got another deer. After I killed it, I got a level in frontier farmer. I hung it to get rid of the blood, but I didn’t get far after that. The next trap holds another deer, this one bigger than the other I have gotten. This kill got me a level in piercing cut, bringing it to 6.

There was something different about it. I could feel it was more resistant to the ability and my sword. This confirmed to me that the deer I just killed was different. After I did the same with this one. I had to reset all the other traps because they were all disturbed. I wasn’t able to catch a rabbit this time, just got unlucky, I guess.

I was not used to doing butchering on the ground, but after the first one, it got a bit easier. After I had finished both deer, my backpack was full of meat, sinew, and some organs. I also rolled up and attached the hides to the underneath of the backpack with ropes. This also got me a level in basic butchering.

I did put the traps into a new place, because I didn’t want the blood and the leftovers to scare off future catches. When I made it back home, I prepared the meat and started the smoker. After that I started to prepare the hides. I had to make two new drying racks for them, but that is an easy job.

It was actually a bit easier to do 2 hides at the same time. A cooler where I could keep the hides in so I could do them at the same time would be excellent, especially if I don’t catch multiple deer the same day. Altogether I got done faster than yesterday; I finished about the same time as I did yesterday, but I did have twice the work today.

There was only one hiccup during today’s harrowing. There was a rock that was a bit deeper down, so I didn’t see it while collecting rocks. Luckily, it didn’t do anything to the equipment, but the bull got startled a bit.

He is trained enough by now that nothing bad happened. I was quite happy that it didn’t happen before, otherwise he might have startled and run, which would have been a lot worse.

I still got another 1/3 done. Tomorrow we will probably finish the rest of it. When it was almost dark outside, I took out the meat and got a level in cooking. I enjoyed the meat and watched the stars above. The nights were starting to get nice. I guess we are moving more into the later spring because the days and night are getting warmer.

Next day there was no deer but all the traps were sprung. I did find a rabbit's foot that was still attached to the trap, but the rabbit was gone. I’m guessing some predator ate it. This was a bit disappointing, but not something I had not expected to happen. I just hope that I will someday get a female rabbit.

This day I was able to start harrowing sooner and was done before the evening. The next morning, while I was doing my chores and watering my planter boxes, I noted that they were growing quite well. I really was a bit behind on my vegetable fields. I will need to make the boards that I’m going to use.

The real question is, will I do that before or after I start sowing the fields with wheat, rye and the flax, that I’m going to call flax because I don’t know the real name of it.

If I sow now, the question of the chickens has become a bit more prevalent. I’d love to catch them somehow, but I wonder if that’s possible. Maybe I could lure them onto a net that I could pull up, of course, then I will need somewhere to keep them.

I have the wood I need, so i can build a quick coop. I know that they can’t fly and they are bigger, so the fence doesn’t have to be so tight. This might actually be possible. Well, there’s no point in thinking about that if I can’t catch them.

Let’s see if I could possibly lure them. They were still in the field, as always, but this time, I had some wheat grains with me. I could not get as close as before because they were more wary of me this time.

But like good old chickens, when they saw or heard the wheat grains being thrown out, they came without thought. So close, in fact, that I could almost catch them with my hands.

They would still run anytime I would move, but not far. At this point, I’m pretty sure that they are farm animals that have just escaped from somewhere. I moved and laid a trail for them to follow, and they did.

I’m pretty sure that I don’t actually have to make a net to catch them. Just have to make fence and a coop then I could just led them there with food. This made this choice a lot easier and more valuable, but it would be another building that will take time from my farming activities.

But I think this is a good opportunity and I think I still have some time to spend. At best it's a one or two day build at worst three or four, but I think I will be able to do it fast especially thanks to my improved stats.

The next day I got another deer and a level in trapping. When I was butchering it, all the hairs on the back of my neck went stiff. I felt that so many times during the war. There was someone watching me.

Quickly looking around, I was able to startle my watcher with my quick movement and see where it was. It was a wolf that was about 60 feet out. I had my axe in my hand because I was chopping the leg joint.

I quickly looked around for the closest tree to climb, because if there’s a wolf pack around me, that’s the only way for me to survive. Choosing one of the trees, I started to slowly approach it.

I was struggling to see the other wolves. I could not spot them. Even though I was moving and watching, there was no movement. Even the wolf that I was currently seeing didn’t move.

I made eye contact, so that it would know that I know it was there and to my surprise, it backed off. A telltale sign of a lone wolf. I have had to fight dogs during the war and when they were alone, I was always able to survive a fight with them, even if I was out of bullets. They had two advantages over a human their mouth and that they had four legs. If you took those advantages away, it was quite easy to win.

But that was if they were alone. You can monitor its movements and you can counter them, but if there’s even two of them and you don't have any ranged weapons. Your only way to survive is to get to somewhere that they can’t.

After some time, it’s clear it was not hunting me. I could see it in its eyes. It was waiting. Because of that adrenaline, it took me a bit to figure out that it was waiting for me to leave and get what I left behind. If I was betting man, I would say it was the one that ate my rabbit.

I went back to butchering but I kept my eye on him like I predicted it didn't come closer, just waited. After I finished, I actually decided to leave one piece of meat that, let’s just say, wasn’t the best butcher meat in the world.

I left it while watching it in the eyes, showing it that it was meant for it. If you show animal kindness, it's less likely to attack you out of nowhere. Of course, that never eliminates the possibility completely.

Getting back home, I dealt with the meat and the hide. Then I started to make boards. I will need a lot, not just for the vegetable field, but also the chicken coop and fence.

For that, I will also need to bring some new lumber. I could cut the fence posts out of the logs, but that would honestly be a waste of time and resource. It took me to the end of the day to make all I will need for both projects.

The next day not all the traps were sprung, and I didn’t catch anything. It probably isn’t the migration season for them, but just something that spook them to move.

Back at the farm, I ran into difficulty choosing where to build the chicken coop and their fence. There was most room towards the river, but that was also closest to the forest, and you don’t want to advertise to the wildlife that you have birds caged up.

So, I would need to build towards the fields or the road. The fields were too close. They started basically right after the buildings, so there was little room for them. I could squeeze it in if I made that area be more of a rectangle. I just wasn’t feeling that design choice, so towards the road was my only choice.

I started to mark out corner spots, so it would be easier to visualize where I would want to build. The coop is going to be a around 10 cubic meters and the fence would be 50. That will be enough space for the time being. The coop will be off the ground; so I will need to bring more wood, to make the legs and the structural skeleton.

Now that I roughly know how much wood I need, I got my lumbering gear and go to do some work. This time I didn't cut them shorter in the woods, because they were skinnier than my usual lumber.

I was able to bring them to the edge of the forest and stack them there. I finished around eight o’clock, but without a watch, it was hard to tell the exact time. Plenty of light left to try to use the bull to bring them all back.

He was a bit timid about crossing the bridge, but otherwise, it was a standard trip. When I was loading up, I saw we would need to bring two loads. Even then, it will probably be his hardest pulls to date.

The first one was a touch and go, because I needed to coax him to really put his muscles into it. But I know he could pull it and once we were moving, it became easier. He stopped again at the bridge. It was a bit annoying to get him going again.

When the first load was unloaded, I gave him some grains to eat and told him he did a great job. I think he was a bit unsure about the new arrangement. Because the next load went off without a hitch and I had all the wood needed to finish everything tomorrow.